Dr. Choo

Brody has had a bad cough all week. My mom took him to the pediatrician last Wednesday for me. They said everything was clear, but did an RSV test since it was going around right now. It came back positive. Poor baby! He seems to have gotten a very mild case though. Lucky boy! Brody's almost over it now. Just a little cough left.

We went to Cincinnati Children's hospital today to meet with Dr. Choo about Brody's Cochlear Implant surgery. WE LOVED HIM! He was very personable and knew his stuff. Dr. Choo said that he had about a dozen people on his caseload with Usher's, so he has become familiar with it. That is awesome considering it is rare! Cincinnati Children's also has an Usher's research team! Not his strand of the syndrome, but all of them are close enough that key information they find could help Brody.

He set up an MRI next Tuesday for Brody. (It is at 8am, so no food after midnight. Only Pedialyte up to two hours before...going to be hard for our little piggy!) Then, after he looks at the scans, we will meet again. Hopefully, the scans will show that Brody's cochleas are intact and formed correctly. From the outside looking in, everything seems to be okay. On Brody's ABRs (the brain response test they did to determine the deafness originally), there were waves showing sound responding at very, very loud decibels which give us hope. Pray that the cochleas are indeed there, intact, and formed so that the cochlear implants are an option for him. If all goes well, we hope to schedule the surgery the week after his first birthday in June.

Dr. Choo also agreed with us, that given Brody's Usher's diagnosis, simultaneous implant surgery is a no brainier. He said he only does it with about 20% of his patients, but he think Brody is the perfect candidate for it. So, Brody will go in for surgery and have both ears done at the same time. Usually kids get one ear done. Then, if they decide to get two implants, they will get one a few months to a few years later. There are higher risks for infections with the simultaneous and the mappings (where they program the outer part of the implant) can take a lot longer. However, it is becoming more and more common in other countries and now in more cities of the US.

Brody was not a happy camper this morning. Grammy (Jordan's mom) came with us to the appointment. She walked Brody through the halls and put him to sleep. We were able to talk to Dr. Choo easier that way! Thanks Grammy!

 

Brody has decided he loves all of his stuffed animals lately!